But placing the blame on a dormant
Microsoft
stock, which is still down more than 50% from its late-1999 high, provides only part of the answer to Gates' decline. The real reason Gates put in play his title to "world's richest man" is his philanthropic giving.

As his net worth marched steadily to the 12th digit, all the louder came criticisms that the then 30-something wasn't giving away enough of his fortune to charity. So over the next three years he relented, donating $23 billion in Microsoft stock to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Add those shares back, plus his other gifts, and Gates suddenly becomes a whole lot richer--$76.3 billion to be exact--making
Warren
Buffett
Warren Buffett
once again a distant second.

The Gates Foundation has since made a number of high-profile gifts. But many of the superrich prefer to give out of the spotlight. "Phil and Penny are intensely private people who rarely divulge their philanthropy," e-mails a
Nike
spokesman, commenting on the charitable giving of his boss,
Phil
Knight
Phil Knight
, and Knight's wife.

Eli Broad, who pledged $60 million last year to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, is skeptical that big shots give anonymously: "I'm not aware of any large gifts that are anonymous." That doesn't prove anything about Phil Knight or any of the others who claim they give lots to charity anonymously.

One thing is clear: Ours is a charitable nation. Without the creation of wealth our system affords, there would be little of the giving that the world depends on.

Where The Big Gifts Go

Arts and educational institutions collected most of the recent $100 million-plus gifts and pledges from The Forbes 400. Except for Joan Kroc's bequest to the Salvation Army, the down-and-out aren't poised to inherit the earth.

I was a full-time staff writer here at Forbes for eight years covering health care. Now I work in hospital administration. I am originally from Pittsburgh but have lived in New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Boston, Iowa City and now Nashville. I have a bachelors degree ...